The sharp drop in support that young people in the care system experience when they turn eighteen is described as a ‘cliff edge’.
It poses a daunting and anxious prospect for care leavers across the UK, who are often expected to navigate the world alone at a point in their life when they need stability, security, guidance and care.
This presents challenges on a number of fronts – from unsuitable housing options, to lack of employment and training opportunities, risk of poorer health outcomes, and the social isolation caused by state support basically vanishing overnight. Devastatingly, care leavers are seven times more likely to die before the age of 25.
We all know the care cliff has to end. But what exactly needs to happen? Why aren’t national governments doing more? And how can social work play its part? Let’s Talk Social is pleased to welcome three members of Shared Lives, a UK charity for people living and working in Shared Lives Care or Home-share, to unpack this urgent topic.
We’re joined by Rachel Leslie, a Qualified Social Worker who currently works as Strategic Advisor for Care Leavers and Transitions at Shared Lives Plus, Gracie Rhodes, a Care-experienced Ambassador who lives in a Shared Lives arrangement after experiencing homelessness at the age of 17, and Mary Stokes, Senior Project Lead for the Young People Leaving Care Programme, registered foster carer and Shared Lives carer having journeyed the transition to adulthood alongside the young person she supported.
They offer practical and policy-based solutions to the multitude of challenges that care leavers might face, discuss how they work alongside social workers around the country to support positive transitions from care for young people with additional needs, and they speak directly to professionals and policymakers about the types of differences they can make to support and champion young people in care everyday.
Our thanks to James Ede at BeHeard Productions for producing the episode. Links to resources produced by Shared Lives mentioned in the episode are available below.